Crossidium geheebii
Common names
moss
Biostatus
Native
Current conservation status
This is the first complete assessment of all known species of mosses found in the wild in Aotearoa New Zealand with a total of 560 species being assessed. The conservation status of mosses, published in the NZTCS database, replaces all previous assessments of mosses. Data supporting the 2025 NZTCS assessment of mosses has been published on the NZTCS database at https://nztcs.org.nz/reports/1155.
Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2025 | Non-resident Native – Vagrant | Qualifiers: SO
Category
Non-vascular
Structural class
Mosses
Detailed description
Diminutive, light yellow-brown, colonial moss of limestone rock. Stems 2 mm tall or more, stout, comose. leaves 1.0-1.5 mm long, imbricated and incurved when dry, suberect to spreading when moist; lamina broadly ovate or ovate-oblong, obtuse, concave, margins deeply reflexed, entire. nerve wide and distinct, excurrent in a long hyaline, smooth arista, the upper ventral portion of nerve surface densely covered with long green filaments. Cells above c.15 microns, subquadrate, pellucid, smooth, rather incrassate; those below longer, rectangular, with thin walls. Seta 5-10 mm long. Capsule 1 mm long, erect, narrowly elliptic. Peristome with 32 filiform teeth on a low basal cylinder, spirally twisted to the left. Operculum conico-rostrate, slightly curved, about 1/2 capsule length. Calyptra long, hooded.
Distribution
Indigenous. Australia and New Zealand. Hawke’s Bay.
Substrate details
Limestone and other calcareous rocks. usually colonising fallen rock and rubble near cliff faces
Threats
Very vulnerable to competition from weeds and mining/quarrying for lime and limestone rock for building.
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Synonyms
None
Taxonomic notes
Fact Sheet Prepared for NZPCN by: P.J. de Lange 31 August 2007.
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Fruiting
Fruits may be found throughout the year
Other information
Previous conservation statuses
This is the first complete assessment of all known species of mosses found in the wild in Aotearoa New Zealand with a total of 560 species being assessed. The conservation status of mosses, published in the NZTCS database, replaces all previous assessments of mosses. Data supporting the 2025 NZTCS assessment of mosses has been published on the NZTCS database at https://nztcs.org.nz/reports/1155.
Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2014 | Non-resident Native – Vagrant | Qualifiers: DP, SO
2010 | Non-resident Native – Vagrant | Qualifiers: DP, SO
2005 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: OL, SO